


Probably Cursed

by Nebulad



Series: Sataareth [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Divine!Vivienne, Gen, Mage Nerds, Nostalgia, Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7022539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulad/pseuds/Nebulad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the moment, Tama was sort of impressed with just how limitless her patience was. “There dear, try that,” Vivienne said, shuffling back a little. She’d dispensed with her vestments after giving her guard very stern orders to allow no one within five feet of the door, replacing the robes with an outfit more familiar to Tama. It was light and allowed total freedom of movement; Vivienne favoured as much whenever she planned on practicing or studying at length.</p><p>The subject now, of course, was Tama’s hand. The pain had spread since the first few months of the anchor acting up, to the point where it ran from the very roots of her teeth down to the tender skin under her fingernails. It was prodding for the tenderest parts of her, as if it were seeking an escape; well it could <i>go</i> for all she cared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Probably Cursed

Vivienne’s appointments in the Winter Palace were nothing short of Gaspard’s absolute best effort. It was well lit with wide windows and gauzy curtains, all done in soft creams and golds that glowed in the Orlesian sunset. The room itself was spacious and the location was just far enough away from the others to almost ensure privacy without seeming as if she were avoiding her people. Servants ducked in and out soundlessly, and as always were surprised to find the little favours that the Divine left them to supplement the piss-poor wages they were getting despite Briala’s best efforts.

Of course, it fell tragically short in ways that Celene would never have allowed— clearly Briala had been punishing the Emperor by having him make the arrangements himself. The room was fine but accomodations were minimal— the small number of servant doors signalled that she only had a few of the staff waiting on her, and the food that was delivered to her had terribly small portions and usually lacked protein— more suited to an Orlesian Sister with something to prove rather than the Divine who was well aware of all of Gaspard’s shortcomings.

Tama still liked it, though she was getting better at identifying small slights. The room was full of them, even besides the obvious ones that made it difficult for Vivienne to work and interact with the denizens of the palace. The view was overlooking a courtyard, which made it difficult for Vivienne to operate in complete privacy and also incredibly noisy. The hallways were narrower in this area which made the formation of her and her guards difficult to arrange. There were a thousand small things that Vivienne assured her had been done on purpose, because Gaspard was ready to launch a coup. He wanted to keep himself available to the nobles that chafed under Briala’s demands, and gain the favour of those that quietly disapproved of a mage Divine.

She bore it with grace, as she always did. _Demanding that anything be changed won’t serve me. I shall simply have to settle with voicing some gentle disapproval when people ask me how the Council went,_ she’d said, a little wistfully. She had been more free to criticize as a courtier, but now everyone expected the Divine to operate with limitless patience.

At the moment, Tama was sort of impressed with just how limitless her patience was. “There dear, try that,” Vivienne said, shuffling back a little. She’d dispensed with her vestments after giving her guard very stern orders to allow no one within five feet of the door, replacing the robes with an outfit more familiar to Tama. It was light and allowed total freedom of movement; Vivienne favoured as much whenever she planned on practicing or studying at length.

The subject now, of course, was Tama’s hand. The pain had spread since the first few months of the anchor acting up, to the point where it ran from the very roots of her teeth down to the tender skin under her fingernails. It was prodding for the tenderest parts of her, as if it were seeking an escape; well it could _go_ for all she cared. The Rifts were long since closed, and demonic activity had been narrowed down to the usual blood mages and desperate nobility. Nothing new under the sun.

She put out her hand and flexed it tentatively. Nothing happened and for a moment it seemed like they’d done it— and then it was taken over by one prolonged cramp that flickered green, and in the privacy of the Divine’s room Tama pitched forward. It felt like it was clawing at the back of her eyes, and the cramp seemed to be edging outwards. Vivienne scowled and fearlessly took the green hand in hers, pouring out healing magic. The mana clashed for a moment, and then a cool numbness spread throughout Tama’s arm.

“We’re getting closer,” the Vashoth offered gratefully. They’d been working all day and many attempts had partially done what they were seeking. Neither of them understood the mark as well as Solas had, but for two sorts of mages that Solas disdained— Vashoth and Circle— they were doing fairly well.

“Our main focus should be to stop the pain,” Vivienne decided thoughtfully, moving over to a small table where their very light lunch was kept. She poured herself some rooibos tea, her fingers drumming absently against the white porcelain edges of the cup. “So far all of our attempts to stop the outbursts have only derailed the entire experiment.”

“I can take it,” Tama told her, rolling her shoulders.

“I believe you, dear, but you shouldn’t have to. If Solas had done his job in the first place we’d be able to get on with the Exalted Council as planned.” She shook her head and put down her tea, moving over to her bookshelf to browse. “Besides the Qunari,” she added as an afterthought.

“Precisely my luck.” Tama got up and poured herself some tea as well, taking a few of the strawberries that were artfully arranged on the plate. Her mother grew strawberries in the garden during summer— she wasn’t used to having them all year round, no matter how much time passed. She hadn’t told her parents that her hand was behaving strangely, although she was sure that if it got worse one of her friends would tattle on her. Part of her wanted them to know, so she could take a moment to be helpless about it. Her mother would kiss her nose and promise her that everything would be fine; they had faced greater hardship than magic.

“Have you read Grand Enchanter Gaëlle’s essays on cursed magical artifacts?” Vivienne asked, sweeping away Tama’s homesickness for a moment.

“No, but I’m familiar.” She’d had a plethora of books on magic gifted to her since she began leading the Inquisition, as if she were the cousin in the family that it was particularly difficult to buy for and so everyone got her the same thing.

“Delightful. You skim through that while I go through Magister Sati’s _Examination of the Body’s Reaction to Magic,_ and between us we might turn something up,” she said, returning to her chair and eyeing the food platter disdainfully. She’d already decided to mention to Gaspard how dreadfully _hungry_ she was. _If he wanted to kill me I should think there were subtler ways than to_ starve _me,_ she’d said sourly upon receiving the third platter in a day made up of more garnish than food.

“You think Corypheus’ orb was cursed?” Tama asked. She’d never considered as much.

“Well, either it was or you are,” Vivienne offered with a smile, and Tama laughed hard enough to snort. Anywhere else she might have been embarrassed, but in front of Vivienne? Never.

“At this point we shouldn’t rule anything out.”

**Author's Note:**

> -me, banging two pots together- VIVIENNE AND TAMA ARE BEST FRIENDS !! THEY STUDY MAGIC AND WHEN THEY'RE IN THE SAME ROOM THEY CAN LITERALLY FUCKING do that thing like when ur with ur buddies and some dickhead walks by and does something Absurd and you look at each other and telepathically decimate them !! Only in this case it's an Orlesian and they're probably communicating to try and rustle up a really devastating burn because there is a 99.99% chance that they deserve it.
> 
> [My writing blog is here](http://nebulaad.tumblr.com) and is full of all sorts of goodies like playlists and character sheets and screenshots.


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